NIGER: UN, aid groups work to keep donors on board for the long haul

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

DAKAR, 31 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - Aid agencies handing out emergency food in Niger are urging donors to keep the contributions flowing, so help won’t fizzle out just as Nigeriens begin to rebuild their livelihoods and their means to avert deadly food shortages in the future.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is appealing to the international community not to turn away from Niger, after donations suffered a sharp drop from almost daily pledges during July to just three in the past fortnight.

“The funds that came in [during July and early August] have allowed WFP to mount a substantial initial response, purchasing food necessary to cover free distributions ahead of the harvest,” Marcus Prior, WFP’s public information officer for West Africa, said.

“But what’s at stake beyond that is our ability to provide a safety net and contingency stocks for those who might not see the predicted good harvests,” he said.

To date WFP has received US $28.1 million toward its Niger appeal, less than half of the US $57.6 million needed.

In the capital, Niamey, last week, a top WFP official said the world must help Niger mitigate the impact of natural disasters like the drought and locust invasions that wreaked havoc on agriculture and livestock across the Sahel in 2004.

“We cannot allow the poor of Niger simply to drift in a sea of uncertainty every year,” WFP senior deputy executive director Jean-Jacques Graisse told reporters.

“We must work together to end this annual Russian roulette,” he said.

Aid groups who rushed into Niger earlier this year to tackle the food emergency are also looking ahead at post-crisis Niger.

Oxfam-Great Britain, which is helping some of Niger’s most vulnerable families through a voucher-for-work programme, has stressed to donors the importance of long-term commitment.

“What we’re looking at now is the post-emergency, rehabilitation phase,” an Oxfam-GB employee who declined to be named said by phone from their regional offices in Senegal. “Some people have lost everything. It will be about rebuilding eroded livelihoods. That’s where we’re directing our talks with donors now.”

Save the Children UK has begun to look at how it can assist Niger in the longer term, either in the country or externally through policy and advocacy, said Niger coordinator Amanda Weisbaum.

We must avoid these crises, said Weisbaum. When shocking images reach television sets, it’s already too late, she said.

“No [assistance] came in, until we hit a crisis point and had dying babies on television,” said Weisbaum.

In neighbouring Mali, where WFP is asking donors to help it feed 175,000 malnourished children and their families, WFP is also hoping donors will not allow the country drop off the radar screen.

“If funding remains steady through the next several months we should be in good shape,” Pablo Recalde, WFP country director, told IRIN.

But to date donors have given less than half of the US $13.6 million sought; WFP’s emergency operation in Mali has received US $4.9 million.

Funds allowing, Recalde said one of WFP’s main priorities is to help replenish the national food security stocks so Mali can better respond unilaterally to any future emergencies.

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